01/02/01 There was an inch or two of fresh snow on the road as I returned to the cabin this afternoon. EASY driving compared to a couple of days ago when it was mostly pure ice. I followed some tracks in from the main road. Hum, someone else had been into Cloudland. I found out later that it was a neighbor - Jerry Woods - who had come in to check on me. Bob Chester had called him over the weekend and asked that he do so - very nice thing for a neighbor to do! Bob knew that I was going to make a run for it - and I would have had to go right past Jerry's house when I left - but Jerry had not seen me leave, so they were concerned. Jerry did find my tracks coming up from the cabin, and decided that I must have been gotten out OK.

It is kind of odd out here right now. The trees are all still covered with a coating of ice, and now that is covered with snow - pretty nice looking if you ask me. The forest is very still, no sounds at all. Well, I take that back. There is the crunch, crunch, crunch of my big feet on the snow (the snow has already crusted up a bit), and the SMACK now and then when my feet slide out from under me and my behind hits the ground, followed by a few choice words that seem to echo on forever. This stuff is still very slick to walk on since all of that ice is hiding just below the snow, but it is SO much easier to get around on that it had been all last week.

A highlight of the day for me was stopping by the post office in Pettigrew to pick up my stack of mail - more than a week of it. I will make a return trip into town tomorrow to mail a bunch of bills and invoices, and to take 20 boxes of books into UPS for shipment to the BOOKS-A-MILLION stores all over Arkansas (that order was a very nice New Year's Present for me!).

I am still up here at the office - having just spent the last four hours packaging up the books, and have not even been down to the cabin yet since I got back from my quick trip up north for Amber's birthday and to spend New Year's with my new ladies. It is dusky dark now, and as soon as I post this I will venture out into the frigid night air and slip and slide my way on down to the cabin. I expect to see a dark sky filled with a million jewels, and that old friend of mine the moon, who called out to me and got my can up off of the ice the other night and kept me from freezing to death.

The trip through the night woods down to the cabin was WONDERFUL!!! Everything had a slight blue cast to it - just like moonlight is supposed to have. And while it was not quite pitch dark out, the moon was bright enough to create shadows all over the snow - trees and limbs and a million different shapes. It was quiet, and not too cold, and the hiking was easy on the lightly-crusted snow. Since I was having such a grand time, I detoured from my normal route and wandered around out there in the moonlight a while.

One time I just stopped, leaned up against an aging oak, and listened. Nothing. I mean NO SOUND at all! Looking around on the ground there were thousands of tiny white sparkles - each snowflake had its own - in that sea of blue snow. And up in the air, the sky was dark navy blue, almost black, with thousands more sparkles, created by the moon shining through the ice on the limbs. It was a marvelous sight indeed. I could not help but srike up the Cowbooy Junkies tune Blue Moon.........

12/4/01 That inch of new snow was just enough to keep me from sliding all over the place as I made my way up the trail to the East meadow at first light. Still solid ice underneath, and while my shoes would slip out from under me once in a while, I never felt out of control like I had been on the bare ice. It was silent out once again, yet a symphony of sunlight flooded the forest as the yellow ball appeared on the ridgetop across the way. Everywhere the sun did not reach the light was blue - being lit from the sky above. It was downright balmy out - 28 degrees, with no wind.

The thin layer of snow had many patterns in it from falling ice, melting ice, limbs, and critter tracks and skid marks of all sorts. Squirrels, rabbits, deer, turkey, mice, the superdog, and no telling what else had passed my way in the last couple of days, their travels recorded in the snow. A soft crunch followed me all the way up the slope.

One of the critters in the snow

That crunch turned into a hushed sound as I entered the East meadow. No sun here to melt the snow yesterday, so the snow was still very soft. This made for tougher foot travel, since the ice was easier to reach. However, I soon learned that I could run and slide with some sort of control. Some kids never grow up. At least I hope not!

The lane between the meadows had not seen any sun in a long while either (both this lane and the East meadow are on the north side of the hill, and don't get much sunlight in the wintertime). Still many small trees covered with heavy ice bent down low across my path - I had to weave in and out of them to get through. And there was a single tiny pine tree that was bent all the way down to the ground from the weight of the snow - poor little fellow. I hope he will recover with warmer temps this afternoon.

The deciduous holly tree that I have taken so many pictures of sits right at the edge of the sunlit and shadowed areas of the hillside. Today all of one side had no ice, while the other was still about half ice covered. Still many plump red berries for a flock of birds to devour one day soon.

Every time I have passed through the Faddis meadow this past couple of weeks there has been a herd of deer there. Every time except for today of course. Could have something to do with my trusted scout dog way out in front. It was obvious that the deer were having a great deal of difficulty with the ice too - hundreds of skid marks all over the meadow. Come to think of it, perhaps they were running and sliding just like I was! I know that there have been many times I have sat and watched deer quite literally playing in a meadow  - mostly youngsters, but I bet the adults get into the act every now and then. Humans need to do more of that too.

The sun stayed out all afternoon, and the warmer temps kept the forest alive with melting ice. While it was only 40 degrees or so, it felt WARM out. Funny how our bodies get used to something like a cold temp. Why just a few weeks ago 40 degrees would have been downright frigid. But today it was warm and wonderful.

I had a number of heavy book packages to mail, and since the mailman was once again making our route, I drove on out to the mailbox in time for their pickup. Having an hour or so to kill, the Superdog and I took off on a hike through the open woods. Some of the snow was crunchy, some was soft and wet. The sun was doing its magic, especially out in the open areas.

After we crossed a long field, we plunged into thick forest. Much of it was filled with briars, and the going was slow. But now and then I would emerge into a fairyland world of open forest and easy snow. Aspen spent most of his time way out there somewhere, sniffing and running and springing and having a great time.

We just sort of drifted here and there, wherever the easy walking took us. On the way back towards the mailbox I heard a pair of barred owls calling out. It seemed a bit odd to me since it was the middle of the day. You normally think of owls as being evening and nighttime critters. But these guys were going at it full blast. I tried to answer, and got them to continue their conversation, but I don't really know if they ever heard me or not. They probably did, and had a good laugh talking about the idiot human who was trying to speak their language. There are many of you out there who can do this with great success, but I am not one of them.

There wasn't a single slip my entire trek, which covered two or three miles. The wet snow on top of the ice worked well. Disaster struck just as I returned to the main dirt road and was about to retrieve my mail. I stepped out onto the bare ice and slipped and went down hard, very hard. I fell on my side, and drove my arm into my innards. I lay there gasping for breath - had knocked the wind out of myself. But it was worse than that. There was some genuine damage, more than the other falls. I felt like an idiot, especially right there on the main road. And the funniest part of it all was that I was literally within arm's reach of salvation. Pam's aunt Bonnie from Wisconsin had sent out three sets of "ice grippers," and they were sitting in the mailbox waiting for me - I was about five feet too late!!!

After managing to struggle to my feet, I gathered up all of Bob's mail as well and took it by his cabin. Not a soul had been down there in at least a couple of weeks. Everything looked pretty good. The only problem was that his cabin sits in this little depression on the north side of the hill - where very little sunlight falls at this time of the year - and everything was SOLID ice still. I managed to fall flat on my behind TWICE while trying to get to the front door of his cabin. I really should have opened up Bonnie's package!

It is nighttime now, and I have just finished a giant bowl of homemade beans and rice, complete with green peppers, onions, corn, and this great smoked ham that Bill gave me for Christmas (Ozark Mountain Smokehouse ham). This ham was one of several items that sustained me out here during my week of being stranded. I sat out on the back deck and ate it under the watchful eye of the moon and several very bright stars. It sure did seem a lot warmer than previous nights, but I guess some of that could have been the generous amount of Louisiana Hot Sauce in my bowl!

Bob Robinson tells me that one of those bright objects in the sky is not a star or planet at all, but rather the new space station. It is supposed to be the 3rd brightest thing up there, after the moon. While I still marvel at the night sky, I have put off getting the big telescope and building a small observatory out here. Perhaps next year.

From my perch on the deck I could look far out into the wilderness - the moonlight was pretty darn bright tonight, casting that blue light a long ways. The side of Beagle Mountain that I can see from the cabin is still covered with a thick layer of ice and snow, and probably will be for several more days - the sun doesn't get to that side of the hill much. No barred owls out tonight, at least none that I was able to strike up a conversation with.

1/5/00 The wilderness was fast asleep as I headed out for an early morning hike. The ground was solid once again - all of that soft snow frozen. But my handy-dandy ice creepers from Bonnie in Wisconsin worked just great, and I was able to pretty much go wherever I wanted without fear of slipping.

The forest was silent except for the crunching under foot. I stopped halfway up a slope, turned around and leaned up against a maple tree to enjoy the burnt orange eastern horizon. The sun was still a half hour away, but the color was rich and vibrant. Just a thin band of orange though that stretched from north to south. That gave way to a light blue sky which got darker higher up, with just a few of the brighter stars still out.

A coyote let out a mournful howl way off towards Dug Hollow. Aspen stopped in his tracks and cocked an ear in that direction - a distant relative out there saying hello. I just love the sound of coyotes, especially in the dead of winter, and before dawn. Haven't heard the wolf howl in a year or two, so something might have happened to him. He came through the valley a couple of times - in the summers - and would cry out long and loud, then disappear until the next year. Others around here have heard him too, but I don't know of any sightings. Good to know he is out there though, somewhere.

Lots of work to do today, so I cut my hike short and headed up to the office. The sun is still not awake yet, but I hear it yawning. Starting your day with a wander through the predawn in the wilderness always seems to make the day go a lot better - I highly recommend it, even for city dwellers! Oops, here is an update on the sun - there is now quite a bit of bright orange sunlight pouring in my office window. It is a long view from here out through the thick forest to the east, but is a wintertime view that always warms the soul.

1/6/01 I was up well before dawn with vacuum clean in hand - company coming for the weekend, and I needed to scrape off a month's worth of dirt. Actually it wasn't company at all, but family - Pam arrived late morning. With all of the ice, she had not been able to get down in quite a while.

We took off on a short hike around the mountain to try out her aunt Bonnie's ice grippers. Even though much of the forest had melted off, the east and north facing slopes were still mostly ice covered, so the grippers came in handy. Aspen and Lucy had a ball running and jumping and chasing each other all over the place. It was a lovely walk through the warming day. And we found that the little pine tree that was bent down over the lane had shed its ice and was now standing nearly straight up - way to go little pine tree! Youngsters are so limber. This little guy gives me great hope in some way. I guess the wilderness is like that a lot - able to overcome great odds and still survive, and indeed even thrive. People are like that too, but most of us don't even realize it until we are faced with some tragedy that we have to overcome. Humans can bend, and recover, just like this little pine tree.

Almost back to normal!

Towards the end of our hike we ran across Roy and Norma who had made it across the ice from town - the road out to the highway was still mostly solid ice, although some parts had been worn down to bare dirt (mud), and other areas were softening up quite a bit.

After admiring our Christmas decorations (I had to leave them up so that SOMEONE would be able to see them - not many visitors since Thanksgiving), and eating MOST of a hot loaf of bread that I had just baked, Roy and Norma took off down the ladder trail for a hike to the river and back. They kept in communication with us by radio. At first it sounded like the trail was in pretty good shape and not too much ice. But later on we realized that they were actually slipping and sliding a great deal. Could have been that they tried to follow a bobcat into the thick woods.

Pam lounged around on the back deck in the sunshine and wrote while I spent some time at the office getting some much-needed paperwork done. While Pam was on the deck, she got to looking around at all the giant ice formations draping over the bluffline that snakes through the entire wilderness. She called up to me on the radio "Come on down - you should see what I have for you!" I thought that I was in for a really big time, so finished up what I was doing and hurried on down. WOW, she had found some incredible ice flows! One in particular over towards Mossville was probably 80 feet tall and 30 feet wide.

We all had a nice dinner, then Bob & Dawna and David & Annie Turner (who were staying at the Faddis Cabin for the night) came down for a visit. It was an impromptu social gathering, and we talked on for hours. Dave and Annie had been awarded the OHTA Maintainers of the Year last year, and have spent a great deal of time up in the Ozarks working on the trail (they are from Fordyce). It was a nice bunch of folks, sitting around in front of the cheery fire with the bright Christmas lights all around. Only problem was that our hairy children followed them back up to the Faddis Cabin, and I had to go out in the middle of the night and bring them home.

1/7/01 For some reason I awoke with a strong urge to cook. And so I did. My VERY FIRST made from scratch biscuits, plus Cloudland hash (smokehouse bacon, hash browns, eggs & cheese). Didn't take very long to get everyone up and to the dinner table.

But all too soon our guests had to head back to town. While Pam and I certainly do enjoy their company, we were especially sad to see them go today because we both knew that once they left, we had a BIG chore to - take down all of the Christmas decorations.

So once we waved bye bye we jumped into the job full steam. I handled the big tree, while Pam attacked everything else. Much to our great surprise and delight, we were FINISHED in no time! And everything was safely packed away in a number of large tupperware tubs. Everything except for the tree of course. I took it apart and set it downstairs in the tool room, and it took up nearly the entire room! It will eventually reside elsewhere, but that was good enough for now.

The big main room of the cabin really looked bare now that the tree and all the other decorations were gone. I had gotten used to the greenery and the cheery lights at night. But after we re-arranged the furniture a bit, everything looked pretty good. Now I will look forward with great pleasure to the holidays each year, and decorating the cabin with my family! Something that I have not looked forward to for a very long while.

Our next chore was to sit out in the swing on the back porch and soak up what was left of the warm sunshine. It was in the low 50's with a light breeze. And then a bald eagle flew by. And then another. It was probably that same pair that we had seen the last time Pam was here. The two of them soared around and played in the air currents over above Beagle Point. They were a sight to behold!

MUCH too soon, Pam had to return to Missouri, and Aspen and I were left with and empty cabin. The sunshine had left with them, and it had turned into a grey day. But just before sunset, the western sky lit up with a brilliant color, and the sun appeared below the clouds just for a minute or two before sinking down into the dark forest below.

1/8/01 No sunrise today - just grey skies filled with low cloud clouds. It was just below freezing, and felt like a winter day. Hum, I guess it IS winter. All of the slush from the day before had frozen solid, and I had to use aunt Bonnie's ice grippers to make it up to the office for work. It is after 9am now, and the sun has just broken through. So has Aspen - he has crawled up into my lap, and is helping me type this.

I have a shipment of guidebooks waiting for me at the truck terminal in town, so I am going to ATTEMPT to haul my trailer over the ice to go pick them up today. Then I have a meeting out at our nature preserve this afternoon (with folks who will determine if the log home there is eligible to be put on the national list of historic places), then a program to give to a boy scout troop tonight.

One thing that I forgot to mention is how cold the cabin has been. Or how WARM it was this past weekend. I have actually had the thermostat on the heat pump turned way down most of the last month - somewhere near cave temp (upper 50's). That has been just fine with me, since I love caves. But no part of the cabin has really been warm at all in that time. My only refuge has been the hot tub. I was saving my limited wood supply in case the power went out and I had to heat with wood to keep the pipes from freezing.

Well, this past weekend, I built a fire, and kept it going all weekend. MAN did it ever WARM the cabin up! Every nook and cranny was nice and toasty (and the heat pump didn't come on even once all weekend). The temp was about 70 in the main room, and a few degrees above that up in the office (the ceiling fan was on to keep it from being too hot). Something about that wood heat - it just felt a lot nicer than if I had heated with the heat pump. Hum, time to get out and chop some wood!!!

1/9/01 It was a very smoky sunrise this morning - the valley was filled with haze. I wasn't really sure where it had come from, but while hiking up to the office to work I came up with an idea. The ground was covered with a million sparkling jewels that flashed as I moved - a heavy frost. Each individual leaf had a thousand diamonds on it. I figured that all of these tiny frozen jewels of frost were created up in the air, then settled softly on the ground. That haze that I saw was not smoke, but an air filled with tiny frost particles!

The view from the back deck this morning

I managed to get the trailer out to the highway OK, although the road was still mostly ice covered and very slick. No way I could return with a loaded trailer, so I parked it in town and will bring it out later. The program with the boy scouts went well, and it brought back a memory from my youth. I remembered when I was a scout, and my brother and I went on a hike on the outskirts of town - in the pouring rain. I had to complete a cooked meal over a campfire for my cooking merit badge. It was a tough job in all the rain - first getting the fire started,  then actually COOKING a hamburger! My poor brother Terry had to eat the final result. Somehow I passed (I guess I still own him for that one). Anyway, the spot where we built that fire and cooked in the rain that day was just a few blocks from the building where I gave the program to the scouts last night - LOTS of urban sprawl since then! And then I realized that our little hike was 35 years ago!!! Good grief - some of us are getting very old.

Terry Fredrick and his son Chad dropped by to help me lay out a new shop/carport building and additional warehouse building. We also looked at the possibility of finding a tractor route down to the little meadow below the cabin - it is getting really grown up and needs a great deal of attention. My main goal down there has always been to create a wildflower meadow and garden spot. But it will need some major fixing to get it to where I can mow it at least once a year, which is required for a nice meadow.

We also took a look at several large trees around the cabin that are not doing too good. I have always known that I would have to cut back a few more trees around the place, but have hesitated. Now it looks like they are in danger of falling into the cabin and will have to be removed. And it will take a bit of tricky sawing to get the job done without damage to the building. Most everyone told me to remove ALL the trees within 200 feet of the cabin site before I ever built, but I tried to sneak the cabin in without making such a large scar on the landscape. Taking out these few trees will still be much less impact though, so I am glad that I did it the way I did.

There is one large oak out in the middle of the circle drive that has fallen over. Well, actually it only fell half way over, and is now lodged in a nearby tree. The tree itself looked very healthy, but the root system was just way too shallow to support the incredible weight of the tree. I only noticed this tree several days ago, so I suspect the additional weight of the ice may have brought it down. If so, that is the only living tree that I have seen up here that was taken down by the ice. We were VERY lucky!!!

On the other hand, I just heard and all of the trails down in the Ouachitas are CLOSED until further notice because of the ice damage. And I just published a new edition of the Ouachita Trail Guide...

Once we got all of our ducks in a row, I had to speed off to meet with Glenn, my friend from the Harrison Sheriff's department. He had been telling me about this waterfall that he wanted to show me, and today seemed like a good day to have a look. This falls is located on private property, so I was not interested in it to put in the waterfall guidebook - only waterfalls on public property will be included in that book. But it sounded like a nice waterfall, so it was worth a trip.

I followed Glenn down a small road that was still covered with very slick solid ice. We got out and hiked past a nice little cabin, then on down to the edge of a gorge. Everything was still covered with snow and ice, and the walking was difficult. Thank goodness for aunt Bonnie's ice grippers! After looking at this really neat balancing rock formation and water slide upstream from the main waterfall, we went over the edge to have a look at the big one.

And I do mean OVER the edge! The owners had built a railing along the first part of the descent down the bluff (a very tight squeeze, especially with camera gear), then we had to make a couple of long steps on over to a tall wooden ladder. Those long steps were across SOLID ice with and literally at the edge - it was not for the faint of heart. Then it was down the wood ladder, which was 15-20 feet tall.

No way that Aspen could make it down the big ladder. I was really concerned about him wanting to follow us, which might result in him getting too close to the edge and going over the bluff. I took off one of my jackets and laid it down on the ground near the railing. He laid down beside it - good dog.

We were finally on solid ground, although it was covered with ice, and sloping steeply into the gorge. But the waterfall at the head of this little canyon was spectacular indeed! The falls themselves were 30-40 feet tall, with a solid column of ice behind. In fact, the water poured right on down through the ice column, ending in a wide pool.

The big waterfall coming down through the column of ice, sepia toned (and in color).

Glenn is a pretty good photographer, and had a lot of camera gear. I only came equipped with my little digital camera and tripod for pictures to post in the journal. The entire little canyon area was an awe-inspiring sight, especially with all that ice everywhere!

On the way out, we came to a second waterfall that was cascading over the same bluffline. It was not as tall, but had a larger ice column, or rather a wall of blue ice that the waterfall came down through. And this one had a good overhang behind it. This overhang was most interesting because there was a secondary flow of water back in there, which created hundreds of ice sculptures, resembling cave formations. And one really odd thing - some of the stalagmites (the ice formations growing up from the floor) had pools of water INSIDE them! It was all quite beautiful, and I was not equipped at all to handle the scene with my puny little digital camera - I needed my REAL camera and a superwide lens to capture it all.

The wall of blue ice was probably 15-20 feet wide.

The ice formations in the back of the overhang, looking to the left

And looking to the right. These are from 2-6 feet tall

The pictures do not do it justice, but I thought I had better post a couple here anyway. I suspect there are a great many wonderful ice scenes like these out in the forest right now, but getting to them is still very dangerous. If the winter stays pretty cold, and we have ample moisture, there will be ice for another month or two, and I will make an attempt to get some real pictures.

Back up the ladder we went, across the ice, and finally to Aspen, who was still hanging around my jacket. I had been nervous about him the entire time. He is growing up for sure.

It was a great trip - thanks Glenn!

I pulled up to the cabin just in time to see the full moon rise - what a remarkable sight. And right on cue, a pack or two of coyotes began to howl way out there in the wilderness. Aspen stood up and took notice. The coyotes continued on for a while, and kept him spooked for a couple of hours.

The cabin was cold once again - down in the mid 50's. I had not taken the time to cut more firewood, and don't want to run completely out. Mental note - CUT FIREWOOD THIS WEEK!!! All I really have to do is turn up the thermostat, but just don't feel like using up the energy - nothing wrong with a sweatshirt.

1/10/01 I was up at 5am and messing around in the cabin. The moon was big and bright in the western sky, haing been awake all night. I decided it was time to fix a leak down in the basement once and for all. I've had several different methods of draining the water that comes in through the underground electric conduit, but all of them have just been bandaids. My most recent purchase was a $105 sump pump that turns on every three minutes - once again a waste of energy. So I plan to return it to the store today, and install a rigid line from the electric conduit across the room to a floor drain. It only took me three and a half years to figure that one out.

Quite cold today - down in the lower 20's and clear skies. They are calling for big rains tonight, which will be good to help wash off the ice. Unless the temp dips down and the rain TURNS into ice!

1/11/01 "100% chance of rain throughout Wednesday night, and 90% on Thursday." That was the official line from the national weather service. Ha, ha. It didn't rain a drop out here, but the ground was covered with an inch of fresh snow at first light this morning, with snow showers continuing. It is very wet snow, and I don't expect it to last too long.

It did look like it had rained all night outside though - there was a large fog bank down in the valley. Actually I guess there were two of them - one down low, and the other just above the cabin level - we were sort of sandwiched in between the two layers of clouds, that provided a window into the winter wilderness.

Snow showers in the wilderness this morning

I broke down last night and built a fire in the fireplace, which warmed up the cabin a great deal. In fact I got the darn thing going so well that it caused a problem. You see, the fireplace out here has the efficiency of a wood stove (with an outside air intake pipe), yet large glass doors that give you a great view of the fire just like a regular (and non efficient) fireplace. The only problem with it is that in order to keep the glass clean and free of soot, the only "speed" of the fireplace is full blast - no way to turn it down, so it buns HOT all the time.

Well, an hour or so after I had crawled into bed, bright flashes woke me up. Terror ran through every fiber of my body - the kind of terror that you have nightmares about and think about every single day when you live in a log cabin - the cabin was on fire! I jumped out of the bed and hit the stairs running, already hyperventilating at the thought of the cabin being on fire (understand that I had just awoke from a very deep sleep). No the cabin was not on fire, but the fireplace was one gigantic ball of flame, which lit up the entire cabin! I realized that about half way down the staircase and nearly fell head over heels. Wow, what a way to wake up! Needless to say, I laid there in bed for a good long while after that, just watching the fire dancing across the ceiling.

The hike up to the office was pretty darn nice in the new snow this morning - the first time in a long while - actually since December 13th - that I did not have to carefully place every step and hold on, waiting for me feet to slide out from under me. And  I was not the only one out. I counted 23 sets of critter tracks across the trail. Mostly squirrels, but also a couple of rabbits, and several sets of mice tracks, plus some that I could not identify.

It is really foggy outside now, and the snow has pretty much quit. It is just cold enough to hold the snow as snow, but I expect it to inch up a degree or two later today, which would melt most of the snow within a couple of hours.

The fog remained until early afternoon, just about the time that I decided to take a hike. Most of the snow had melted already, so the ground was BARE for the first time in a very long while. It was GREAT to be able to hike around and not have to worry about every step. This was the first hike of any length for me in a month.

There is a short rock wall along this stretch of the trail, perhaps 50 feet long and five feet tall. This wall has always puzzled folks around here because it really doesn't go anywhere, nor serve any particular purpose, other than to mark the struggle and art of the early pioneers. Today I discovered that part of it had been knocked down, probably by the ice somehow. The damage looked to be very fresh, and I doubt that any person had been down to that spot in a while (could not image why anyone would destroy such a thing of beauty anyway).

The rock wall knocked over by ice (?)

The view from the Crag was spectacular, and the creek down below was roaring pretty good with all of the melting snow and ice. Most of the landscape on "my" side of the creek was brown - not much ice or snow since it faces south. But right across the way the world is still white and covered with ice and snow - north facing slopes. Quite a contrast for sure.

Aspen got to exploring this neat bluff area up above the trail - I think there is a bear den there. And something got him all excited - he spent ten minutes springing straight up in the air and romping around all over the place. He looked kind of funny because he was right in the middle of all these boulders - he usually does that sort of thing out in the open.

It was rather warm out - in the upper 30's - with no wind at all. Very nice hiking weather. All the creeks were up and running so I had plenty of wilderness music to accompany me. By the time I returned to the cabin, I had done about five miles - a good afternoon stretch.

1/12/01 The fog returned, and it was as thick as pea soup this morning. In fact, it is late morning now and we are still up in the clouds - can't even see the pine trees in the little meadow below the cabin. The wind is blowing a bit, with the temp in the mid-30's. It all has a feel to it like the sun and blue sky are just above and will break out at any time. Once that happens, I suspect the temp will rise and continue the snow and ice melt. Since we did not get any rain yesterday, it will take warmer temps to clear off the roads.

After a trip into town I spent an eternity trying to get back to the cabin. I was towing about a ton and a half of books on the trailer. It was dark, EXTREMELY foggy, and the road had turned from ice to thick clay-mud. The computer in the truck had to take over several times as we slogged up the muddy hills. And to make matters worse, this song came on the radio that brought a flood of tears. It reminds me of my mom, and the fact that she is probably not long for this world. But it is a very  happy song too, about her life, her joys and sorrows, and about how much we all will miss her. The fog, the mud, and the tears made for a very tough trip. The will, of course, be a much more difficult trip home sometime in the future that I am not looking forward to.

Once I turned off of the main dirt road I parked the rig and stumbled out into the night to get my mail (I had to park a ways from the mailbox because of the trailer). I do this quite often - park along an access road and hike the short distance up through the woods to the mailbox. But tonight it was pitch black, and still very thick fog. I kept the motor running, with the lights turned on. After only a few steps I knew I should have taken a flashlight with me - I had to walk very slowly with my hands in front of my face to keep from being slapped by limbs. There was still a bit of snow and ice underfoot as well, making travel awkward.

OK, I made it to the mailbox, then turned around and realized that I could not see the truck at all - the fog was SO thick! But I could hear the motor, so I inched my way down the slope towards the sound, protecting myself from limbs. I felt like an idiot, but that has become commonplace for me out here in the ice this past month. I never fell, but I did grab onto a tree trunk or two on the way down. Soon the eerie glow of headlights came into view and I was saved!

Once I reached the office I had to back the trailer around a sharp corner and put it through a doorway into the warehouse that only had a few inches on either side to spare. This is normally a tough task in the daylight for me, but I knew it would be murder this night, especially with all the fog. But I had no choice but to get the books inside tonight - it was already damp out, with rain on the way. Well shut my mouth - I put her in reverse and backed that dude right on in without even having to make more than one run at it! Absolute dumb luck in the dark! My books were finally safe and sound in the warehouse. I was glad that trip was over.

1/13/01 It was an early day for me, as there was company coming and I had to get the place spruced up. It was a dull sort of day outside, with fog and clouds and mist. But more was on the way, so after taking a few spins with the vacuum, I loaded the trailer with oak and hickory logs that I had cut out a year ago to make room for the office but had not cut up into firewood yet. I unloaded them in the carport and dug out the chainsaw. Just about the time it began to rain, I finished cutting and stacking enough firewood for several days.

When Pam and Amber arrived a short while later, there was a crackling fire in the fireplace, fresh bread just turning crusty and brown, cinnamon aroma boiling up from the stovetop, and a new batch of homemade Cloudland chocolate chip oatmeal cookies going into the oven. The place looked and smelled terrific, and to top it all off I got to throw my arms around two wonderful ladies!

1/14/01 It was a spectacular sunrise, and blue skies all around. A classic winter day in the Ozarks. After breakfast we set out for a short hike, Amber in the lead (her favorite spot). The woods were wet and cold and wonderful. We wandered on around a bit, finding the going easy, although there were still a few spots of snow and ice (especially in the East meadow).

Our fearless leader

Pam's parens arrived with friends Jack and Judy, and we all had a delightful lunch and visit out on the back deck in the sunshine. Pam took her dad on down towards the "real" Whitaker Point, then a quick tour of the overgrown meadow below the cabin. Amber spent some time wandering around on her own in the woods near the cabin - something I am encouraging her to do as much as she wants. It takes time to get comfortable in the woods, and I think the best way to do that is to get out on your own and find your own way. The more time you spend in the woods alone, not only the better woodsperson you will be, but I think the better a PERSON you will be - knowing you can rely on yourself and don't have to always have someone around to hold your hand. This is certainly true for kids, but even more so for adults!

On one of Amber's mini rambles, she found a bird's nest. It was fashioned onto a low bush, just three feet off of the ground. Most people would have walked right on by this nest and never noticed it, but when you are a child out on an exploration trip in the woods, you see A LOT! Same thing with adults, but most are way to busy to notice such things of beauty. I say slow down, let the kid inside all of us take over (I don't have any problem doing that!).

Soon after our guests departed, I had to run into town for a couple of meetings, while the ladies stayed behind and enjoyed themselves at the cabin. And they did quite a bit of work too, including baking me a wonderful batch of cookies, which I gobbled up several of upon my return late in the night. My oh my what a treat it is to come home to Pam and Amber at the cabin!

1/15/01 We went on a little exploration trip today, but it was mostly in the car, heading to Jasper to tour the town and Amber's future school. On our way we came across the main Boxley tourist attraction - herds of elk. These guys have really become famous these past several years, and their population is increasing every year. I saw a herd of 13 big bulls the other night, and today we found about half of that herd, right next to the highway, just grazing and posing for pictures.

The big boys of Boxley Valley

Jasper is a nice laid back little town, and even though it was technically a national holiday today, most everything was open, including the government offices and the schools. After Pam and Amber toured the elementary school and the library, we had lunch at a local cafe. Being surrounded by all sorts of locals, Pam leaned over and whispered in my ear: "So how will I be able to tell the difference between a red neck and a good old boy?" A legitimate question. I had been filling her head with tales of redneck absurdities and nice things about good old boys. Roy commented later that one way to tell the difference is that good old boys throw their Bush beer cans into the back of their pickups while the rednecks just toss them out the window. Quite true. Good old boys make great friends and neighbors, while rednecks are just rednecks, and do best in the company of their own kind.

There is a new game at Cloudland - called "3 Stones." It is a neat board game played with colored stones and a wooden board. I must say that while I have played more of this game than either Pam or Amber, they both seem to wipe up the floor with me most every time.

Much too soon the car from Missouri was headed back, leaving Aspen and I with a large void. The day the moving van comes down the hill will be a very great day indeed!

The sunset was quite spectacular - the western sky being filled with gathering clouds that were turned brilliant colors by the setting sun.

You may or may not know that I am a Macintosh computer person. I just don't understand why most of the world uses those other awful machines - they are just so difficult to use and filled with UNNECESSARY steps to do even the simplest task compared to Macs. But since there are so few of us sane folks, some types of software are just not available for the Mac. Like mapping and GPS software. Since I am entering into a GPS phase of my life (in order to have the most accurate location information for the waterfall guidebook), I decided that I had to bite the bullet and get some Windows stuff. But I discovered, much to my surprise and delight, that the "virtual" windows software for the Mac actually DOES work! I installed some tonight, and now have two computers in one here, and am able to utilize the mapping software for GPS. YEA!!! That was enough to fry my brain though, and I went to bed early.

1/16/01 It was a grey and chilly morning today, but the hot tub felt great, as did a short hike around the mountain just after first light. And later today a new and very important member of the Cloudland family will arrive! I will post a picture and fill you in on all the details as soon as I have the time.

And the family member arrived right on time. Actually, it is a tool, a very helpful tool, that will be used a great deal here. I am not one of those little boys who played with one and always wanted one and now has a big toy of his own. Quite frankly I have grown tired of borrowing my neighbor Bob's and doing without most of the time. I just don't like to borrow anything. The more that I do out here, the more I realize that I really need one for so many things. And the more I got to thinking about buying one for Cloudland, the more things I found that I could use it for. So after months of agonizing about spending so much money, I went ahead and bought one.

And I must say that within minutes of its arrival here, I was putting it to good use. The first order of business was to stock up on my wood supply. I have cut up a lot of wood out here, but most of it has been located in areas that are difficult to get to. But with my new tool, I was able to drive right on up to the sight, load up a big pile of wood, and haul it to the cabin and dump it right where I needed it. Spent a couple of hours working on the road too - it has gotten in very bad shape, and while I could only scratch at it a little, I will be able to maintain the road once I do get it fixed properly. I was unable to load and move a large boulder that had slid down the hillside and landed at the edge of my road, but I will go back later with another attack plan.

One of the main uses for the tractor will be to brushhog Aspen's meadow, as well as the small meadow below the cabin, so I got a bush cutter with it. And a box blade for grooming the road and spreading gravel and such. And several folks told me that I had to get a front loader with it too - I never would have considered getting one before, but now realize how much I will be using it. While it is a quick-detach model, I probably will leave the loader attached most of the time. We will construct a shed next to the office building later this winter, which will serve as a storage place for books and other stuff besides the tractor. Since the shed will be enclosed, with two garage doors, someone noted that my tractor will have a better home than my Mercedes does (only an open carport).

After spending most of the afternoon working on this machine, I know that I made a good choice. It is a "compact" tractor, 30 horse power, Kubota. It is very small, and about the smallest that I felt would handle the majority of the chores out here.

The old man with his new toy, er, TOOL, and a load of firewood

It began to snow a little just before dark. But it soon turned to light rain. They are calling for 4 inches of snow tonight, but right now it is 39 degrees, and the few bits of snow that fell melted right away. It will have to drop a few degrees before the ground turns white.

1/17/01 I got up a couple of times during the night to stoke the fire and heard raindrops. No snow at all. None at daylight either. But soon after daylight it did begin to snow - large, wet flakes. Beagle Point soon disappeared in the driving snow. And it stuck to the trees pretty good too. Within an hour there was about an inch on the ground. The temp was 29 degrees - great snow making weather!

The outline of Beagle Point in the snowstorm - just before it disappeared

When a big winter storm like this hits most of the critters of the forest burrow deep inside their dens for a while. That was the case this morning. I hiked around in the snow for an hour and never saw a single critter track of any kind.

After climbing a little hill I stopped and leaned up against a tree to rest and take in the countryside. I closed my eyes and listened. Not a single sound. Nothing. Except for the sound that the SNOW was making! If you listen very closely, you can often hear snow hitting the ground. But you have to be in the right place, and in the right frame of mind. And you have to close your eyes and let the rest of the world go away, especially deep inside yourself. Think about that for a moment - imagine the sound that a single snowflake makes as it quietly settles onto the soft pile of snow below. Then multiply that by thousands - that's the sound that falling snow makes! Few things in life are as peaceful.

The scene from the back deck - note the Buffalo River down in the lower left corner - nice GREEN color, and running pretty good!

The snow did not last too long, with a total of about an inch and a half on the ground. But it is a nice snow, and the forest looks wonderful with its new dress. It is mid-afternoon now, and the day is growing dim. I've been glued to the computer most of the day, and am ready to get out and stretch my legs. The superdog and I will head out for a 4-5 mile hike to the mailbox. And just in case you were wondering, the new tractor is safe and sound under the carport at the office!

The snow did not last too long, with a total of about an inch and a half on the ground. But it is a nice snow, and the forest looks wonderful with its new dress. It is mid-afternoon now, and the day is growing dim. I've been glued to the computer most of the day, and am ready to get out and stretch my legs. The superdog and I will head out for a 4-5 mile hike to the mailbox. And just in case you were wondering, the new tractor is safe and sound under the carport at the office!

We had a fine hike, and the snow was easy to hike through. Some of it had stuck to the trees, so the forest was a bit of a winter wonderland. After hiking for several miles I realized that I had still not seen a single critter track. I guess they were really expecting a major storm to move in.

Hawksbill Crag in the snow

The little creeks are running and making a bit of noise, adding some nice movement to the landscape. But the waterfalls are not flowing really good yet - we still need a LOT of snow or rain for them to be great.

It was delightful to wander on through a forest of young beech trees. They hold onto their leaves all winter, and those little golden gems had collected a lot of the snow this morning. Sometimes I feel like the forest has gone to sleep after leaf fall, until I come upon a beech tree - they seem to have stayed up late, and me you feel like there is someone there in the woods to talk to.

Golden beech leaves, hanging around all winter

On the way back from the mailbox we hiked through an area that had both dense underbrush, and deeper snow - perhaps 2 or 3 inches of the fluffy white stuff. There seemed to be a large number of TINY cedar trees around too, nearly buried by the snow. I got down on my hands and knees to speak with them at their level. They seemed to be having a great time, unaware that the rest of the world was so much taller than they were.

A pair of tiny Christmas trees

The fire in the fireplace was a good one today, and kept the cabin toasty all day and long into the night. I don't recall the heat pump coming on a single time. Some of this wood that I have is really burning good, but some of it just sort of sits there, unwilling to warm up the place.

1/18/01 I spent most of the morning today editing slides for a textbook company in Florida. They wanted pictures of Arkansas mountains, pine trees, and waterfalls for a fourth grade text book of some sort. I was glad to see them using NATURE pictures in the book!

After a quick trip into town, where I bought a shiny new chain to use with the tractor, plus  el-cheap-o insulated coveralls from Wal Mart (it is cold in the driver's seat!), I came upon a truck that had slid sideways blocking the road. No one was around, but soon my friend Glenn from Harrison showed up. It was his truck, and for some reason it kicked out of 4wd just as he was driving up a spot of solid ice on the road. My eyes lit right up - "I'll pull her out with my new tractor!"

Actually, I figured that I could have pulled him out just as well with my truck, but I could not pass up this opportunity to use (show off) my new tractor. So we drove on to my place and got the tractor. And was I GLAD that I had that new insulated suit - it was FRIGID driving that thing in the wind! But I was toasty warm, all except for my head and hands.

OK, I got the rig all lined up and Glenn hooked on the new chain. The only problem was that the chain was too short for me to be off of the ice. So I sat there and spun my new tractor tires on that glaze ice - all four of them. Had this been on the level it would have been no problem. Or if my chain was about ten feet longer, no problem. But there I was, with my brand new tractor and chain, going absolutely no where! I take that back - I did go somewhere - the tractor slid sideways and right on across that darn ice.

But soon a friend of Glenn's showed up with a jeep, and more importantly ANOTHER CHAIN! We put the two chains together and he was able to get a firm hold on solid ice and pulled the truck out with no problem. Next time I go into town I'll get another chain!

Another funny thing about all of this was that while Glenn and I were getting the tractor, the sun had broken through the dark sky and sent an incredible shaft of light streaming through the wilderness. We witnessed it all from the back deck. It was one incredible scene. Plus two big shot photographers standing there helpless with no cameras!!!

Glenn said that it had snowed hard a couple of hours before, and there was new snow all over the ground and covering one side of the trees. Most of the snow from the day before had melted off. I did not see any snow elsewhere but up on this mountain during my trip into town.

Later in the night as I eased myself into the steaming bubbles, the sky above opened up and reveled the first blanket of bright stars that I had seen in a while. And then one went streaking across the sky - first shooting star in a very long while!

1/19/01 Brilliant sunshine this morning, and blue skies. It was a bit nippy though, and I headed out all bundled up in my down jacket. The leaves were all frozen and covered with a heavy frost. Plus there was still some of that snow left. Beagle Point has gone from being completely white this past month, to almost solid brown a couple of days ago (with most of the ice having finally melted off), then to white again with the new snow, and this morning to about half and half. The part of Beagle Point that I can see faces north, so keeps ice and snow a long time.

It is early afternoon now and I have only set foot outside twice (a TON of paper work to do as always). Some movement just caught my eye outside the window - large white streaks going by. It was snowing again, and while the flakes were HUGE, there were not all that many of them. Although the more I look deep into the woods, the more I see, so perhaps it will be a real snowstorm. I do believe that it is time for me to abandon this computer and strike out for a hike and see what I can find.

As I headed out the snowflakes got larger and more plentiful, and the chill of the north wind cut right through me, saying "GO CUT FIREWOOD!!!" So I hiked on down to the cabin and spent an hour or two getting things ready for some winter weather.

First I had to clean out the fireplace, replace a couple of bricks in the back of the fireplace (a great fireplace, but the firebricks crack and crumble away with only a few weeks of use - the company has replaced them MORE THAN A DOZEN TIMES!), then cut up some kindling, and finally, I got to do one of the great pleasures of life - splitting firewood in the snow!!!

It was quite cold out - in the 20's with a 20-30 mph wind, putting the wind chill down near zero. But after only a few minutes with the maul, I had shed my wind jacket and down jacket, and had on only a light sweatshirt and capeline top. And MAN, that wood split great!!!

I really have no idea where this comes from, but swinging that maul, watching and hearing the wood pop and split apart, the wind driving giant snowflakes against my skin, that just does it for me - and ranks as one of he extreme pleasures of my life. Always has, ever since I was a kid and got to take care of the wood at deer camp. Perhaps that is part of it - drifting way back in my mind to a simpler time when my biggest worry was, heck, I really had no worries. Deer camp. Yea, I took in a lot and grew up a great deal at deer camp. And not only outdoor skills, but just dealing with and being around other people, folks who you would have to trust in life, and who would trust in you. Responsibility, I guess deer camp gave me a good taste of it.

WACK! Two more logs for the fire. I was like a little kid, having a good time and exercising at the same time. I spent nearly an hour chopping wood, hanging out in the cold and the blowing snow. But all good things must come to an end, and I spent about 20 minutes moving and stacking it all. Enough for a good cold snap. I was prepared.

So it was off into the forest for an afternoon stroll. The flakes heavy, but it was not blowing now. But rather the huge puffy flakes would drift on down, sometimes taking a long while to make it to the ground.

I got to following individual snowflakes on their journey. Looking up and spotting one as high as I could, my eyes would remain focused on its every move. Down, slowly to the right. Quick up a foot, then back and forth, now way on over to the left, drifting downward, ever downward. Quite often the flake would be so far away by the time it hit the ground that I missed it. But a couple of them came right on over and landed at my feet. One even got bombed my head, although I must admit that I had to work hard to get that one to happen. Anyone watching me would have deemed me nuts.

Ahhhh, the forest was so wonderful to stroll through, with snowflakes filling the air. These were much more difficult to hear hitting the ground than they were the last time. I had to brace myself against a tree, peel the stocking cap from over my ear, close my eyes, and LISTEN, really listen. There were no other sounds at all. Every now and then I would hear a snowflake hit the ground. Well, at least I think I did. Husssshhhh.....

Then we made it to the East meadow and all hell broke loose. It was a big blow from up north for sure, and crossing that open north-facing meadow was a bit of a chore. I had to zip up and snap down all that I had. The snow was horizontal, and moving fast. Without glasses, I could barely look into the wind - the driving snow sliced right into my eyeballs.

In great contrast the serenity of the lane between the meadows seemed like another world - lots of trees to block the wind. There is always something nice about this narrow, meandering lane. Aspen loves it too, and he often finds critters to chase after. Speaking of which, there have been a number of them out today - I have come across a dozen or two sets of tracks, of larger animals - rabbits, squirrels, perhaps a coyote.

Then I came around a bend in the lane and found Aspen on point in the bushes. He is an expensive bird dog, but his owner has not taken the time to train him. He is also a PERFECT wilderness hiking companion, which is why I got him. Anyway, he had something down there in the bushes, right in the middle of a large and thorny wild rose bush. Not sure what it was, but Aspen had pointed up a little critter home of some sort - a hole about two inches in diameter. Probably a chipmunk or something like that.

The snow was really easy to walk on, even when I left the lane and headed up the steep hillside towards Aspen's meadow.  This is a north-facing slope just like Beagle Point and I could tell that there was still a layer of ice, or at least crusted snow, underneath the fresh snow.

A tiny seed head of something or other in the snow

I reached out and grabbed an oak tree to pull myself up one section, and was a bit surprised. The tree was WARM. No kidding. The wind was blowing in here, this part of the hill had not seen the sun in a long while, and it was still snowing, yet this tree was warm. I was a bit puzzled. But I decided that a tree must give off some heat (is that really possible?). Then I grabbed another tree and it was not warm at all, but felt sort of cold and frozen, like I would have expected it to be. I reached out and grabbed another tree, and once again, it was WARM. What was going on here?

Then I conducted a little test. I went around and grabbed a couple dozen trees on this little hillside - most of them 6-10 inches in diameter, and felt them up good. One would be warm, another not so warm, yet another downright frozen. All live trees. BUT, different SPECIES! I have not the slightest idea why this is, but here is the result of my not-so-scientific study: Some species are warmer than others. Oaks by far have the warmest bark. Next comes a couple of types that I could not identify. Then dogwoods with just a little warmth, and finally, hickory and beeches were the coldest, feeling nearly frozen just like you would expect. Do oaks have a WARM personality, and hickories cold? Hum.

Walking around feeling tree bark in the driving snow, following snowflakes all the way to the ground and then trying to hear them hit, searching the sky for shooting stars, watching your child discover a bird nest. These are very important things in life, and we must make plenty of room in our lives for them.

It is after dark now, my office is quiet, and I'm ready to head back down to the cabin. No flashlight needed tonight - the white of the snow will reflect plenty of starlight - even though that light is diffused through a thick cloud of blowing snow. The roaring fire will be at the end of my journey, and I believe that I will dig into the frige and pig out on some pasta tonight! I'll have a bit of merlot with that please.

The hike down in the dark was great, but what I found just outside the cabin was even better - a beautiful and thinly-clad wood nymph! Pam had arrived for what would be a very nice weekend of work, hiking, lounging around watching movies, enjoying the sunshine, fine food, and general all around fun.

1/20/01 We slept in a bit - until just after daylight, then got up and went on a short hike around the mountain. Pam confirmed the different temps of the varying tree species over on the north side of the mountain. The temp range is especially evident when it is very cold, like it was this morning - 12 degrees. The snow was pretty easy to hike on, even on the spots that were still ice covered.

As we approached the office area the perimeter alarm went off - people, bear, black coyote? It was a pair of friends from Fayetteville looking for a good place to hike. I directed them on down into Dug Hollow to take a look at the many dramatic ice formations. The very first instruction that I told them - and drew out specifically on the map - was to park at Bob's cabin. I was careful to spell everything out in detail because others have had difficulty making it down into Dug Hollow in the past. "Be sure to park right in front of Bob's cabin - there is a small circle drive there." (We later saw their vehicle parked in the East meadow - no where near any cabin. Never heard if they found Dug Hollow or not.)

SOMEONE got a bit excited when I fired up the tractor. We had a plan to cut firewood from some downed trees along the lower part of Aspen's meadow - I would do the cutting, and Pam would drive the loaded tractor from there on down to the cabin and dump the load in the carport for stacking later. I had no idea what a monster I would soon create!

We hauled everything to the meadow, cut the first batch of wood, and loaded up the bucket. Pam jumped in the driver's seat - there was this instant HUGE grin that came across her face, and her eyes lit right up. The sun was shining brightly, but it was only in the mid teens, and Pam was as happy as a clam, and disappeared up and over the top of the meadow. One of the reasons why I bought a tractor with a "glideshift" transmission (you don't have to use the clutch to shift) was so that perhaps one day I would be able to convince Pam to learn to drive it in case she really needed to. Little did I know that she absolutely LOVED to drive this tractor!!! It was great to see that big smile.

Another load of firewood

I continued to saw up logs, and soon I heard singing - it was Pam, singing at the top of her lungs and bumping along on top of that tractor. I later commented that perhaps we would need to get his and hers tractors. She replied that "no dear, I will SHARE!"

Several tractor loads later we had cut enough and spent a while stacking the wood in the carport. Some of these logs were fairly large, and the maul bounced off when I tried to split them - the would have to wait for a really cold morning when they would pop and split wide open with ease. These are hickory logs, cut down a year ago.

The parking lot is getting full

After lunch and a short time out to soak up the warm sunshine coming in the loft windows, we bundled up and headed out to get the mail. At Cloudland that is a 4-5 mile hike! And a fine hike it was too. There wasn't nearly as much snow on this south-facing side of the hill, and our quick pace warmed us up in a hurry.

Large, fresh woodpecker hole - nearly 4 inches tall

I'm not sure if I ever posted a picture of this little beech tree holding up a large rock or not (talked about it in detail way back during the first year of the journal), but since this little guy continues to amaze me I thought I would show it to you. The picture pretty much tells the story - the beech is keeping the rock from sliding off, and one day when the beech grows up and eventually dies, that old rock will finally make it to the ground.

We stopped to inspect a large oak tree that had fallen over sometime last summer. I hadn't realized just how HUGE it really was - nearly five feet across at the base! Must have made one incredible noise when it hit the ground (I am one who believes the tree DOES make a sound when there is no one there to hear it!).

The tree bark warmth test continued, and we added pine trees to the list - they are about in the middle of the pack, not really warm but not cold either.  The white oaks were really warm today, and the beeches very cold.

Aspen and Lucy must have covered 20 miles during this hike - they ran and ran and ran and ran and ran, and I mean really RUNNING full tilt most of the time! It was amazing to watch them fly through the forest.

It was near dark when we returned to the cabin, and after a fine candlelight dinner in front of the fireplace we watched a couple of movies, soaked in the hot tub a bit, and called it a day. Rise early, hike, work, eat, hike, eat some more, relax around the fireplace, and enjoy each other's company - can't think of a finer day to have. This will become a typical day at Cloudland, and I intend to relish each and every one of them.

1/21/01 It was a stunning sight - one that made me jump out of bed and tear down the staircase as fast as I could - a spectacular sunrise! There are many of those out here, but this one today was especially brilliant and colorful. My only regret was that my "real" camera was up at the office, and I could only record it with my little digital snapshot camera.

Good morning Cloudland!

We got back to work again today, this time working in the "yard" at the cabin. Pam grabbed ahold of a pair of loppers and headed down into the little meadow below the cabin to cut out two years growth of locust trees, oak sprouts, and tons of other misc. tall weeds and stuff. The sun was shining and it was a delightful day. I spent most of the morning in the cabin at the computer, designing cabinets that we would need for addition storage space, and answering e-mail. Weekends are always bad for e-mails - had over 50 this morning alone.

Then I fired up the tractor and tried to clean off the spot where a new carport and workshop will be built soon. Within 20 seconds of starting up the engine, Pam appeared. I HAVE created a monster!

The sunshine was great and we spent a bit of time as lizards down in the meadow - lying about on the warm rocks soaking up all the warmth. And as always, Pam headed back home much too soon and my weekend came to an end.

1/22/01 No spectacular sunrise this morning, but the bright sun did quickly warm up the cool air. Nothing but blue skies today! Oh, there was one other object in the sky just before sunrise - the absolute THINNEST sliver of a moon that I had ever seen!

After spending most of the day at the computer, the warm sunshine called out to me to get out and go hiking. Hey, it is not nice to ignore momma nature! I parked at the Crag parking lot and headed into the woods towards a couple of nice waterfalls. Besides getting out for a little hike, I wanted to test the new GPS unit that I just received (Garmin eMAP). I plan to use the GPS to note exact locations for all of the waterfalls in the new guidebook - this info will be included in the book for the growing GPS community.

Not long after I headed down the hill I realized that I forgot to put on my hiking shoes. I was still wearing the slip-on shoes that I use to go between the office and cabin. No problem though - they are actually pretty good little hiking shoes, waterproof, and with a good tread. $15 at Wal Mart. I felt a little silly though out there in the wilderness with my slippers on!

Most of the forest was brown and dry and warm. But as the terrain got rougher underfoot, the snow and ice returned. By the time I reached the first waterfall, the right side of the creek was solid ice, but the left side was brown and dry. The waterfall was running pretty good, but not nearly as full as when I photographed it for the guidebook back in June.

The first order of business was to get an exact measurement of the height of the waterfall - another feature for all of the waterfalls in the guidebook. It was a bit tricky getting to the front edge of the falls because of the ice still there, but I did find a dry spot or two and soon had the measuring tape reeled out. This one is 34 feet tall, a quite respectable waterfall.

Next I made my way up the ice hillside towards the really large falls nearby. As I approached it I saw nothing but white. It is at the head of a narrow but tall canyon. Obviously no sunlight had penetrated this area for quite a while - EVERYTHING but the actual water flow was solid ice!!! And the top of the bluff was solid ice too, so there was no way for me to get to the edge to take a measurement (this one is probably twice the height of the first one, and one of the tallest in the wilderness area). But I took my GPS reading, gawked a minute at the icy sight (it was in the upper 40's so quite warm), then headed on back towards the trailhead.

It was a good little hike, and gave me some info about how the GPS will be able to help me with the new guidebooks. All of the maps for these books will still be drawn by hand (on the computer), but the specific location and route information from the GPS will be a big help. Plus it gives the sun and moon rise and set times, which will help out with photos once in a while.

1/23/01 I was wide awake at 4am today, and could not get back to sleep, so I got up. After a long soak in the hot tub under starry skies, I fixed breakfast, hauled in some firewood, then laid down on the couch to listen to the news on NPR. I IMMEDIATELY fell sound asleep, and didn't wake up for more than two hours! So much for not being able to go to sleep.

The sunrise was a brief one - the yellow ball appeared for just a moment between the horizon and a thick layer of clouds - then disappeared up into the cloud bank. It was pretty warm - just above freezing - with an expected high in the 50's. It was 24 degrees in town.

Terry Fredrick arrived in a couple of hours and we spent the day getting the site ready for the new carport and shop. We had to remove a couple of small trees, but worked a long time getting a couple of large ones down and out of the way. While inspecting the area the other day we found that these big trees were rotting at the base and would eventually fall on the cabin. Our dilemma today was to get them on the ground without dropping them onto the cabin, where they wanted to go. And let me tell you - trying to get stick that weights several thousand pounds to go someplace that it doesn't was a big chore! And since there is a steep slope on the other side of the trees, we could not use the tractor to help (without rigging up a major string of cables through the trees). But we did succeed, and got everyone on the ground and out of the way without damage to the cabin.

1/24/01 It was a remarkable sunset today. A HUGE orange ball dropped into a purple sky, with red and pink clouds streaked across the western sky. I spent most of the day in town, but stopped the car on my way back to the cabin and just stumbled out into the forest to soak up this incredible scene.

It seemed that the wilderness paused to pay attention as well, as it was completely quiet out there. I had inched my way on over to the edge of a steep bench to watch all the glory. Just before the sun disappeared, I happened to look down at the level bench way below and saw three deer standing there, frozen in their tracks. Now that is not all that unusual, because deer will freeze at the sight of any movement. But these guys were not concerned with me - they were staring at the sunset too! Once the snow was over, they sort of looked up my direction, flipped their tails as if to say "wasn't that cool man?", then slowly moved on into the now dark forest and disappeared themselves. It was one of those special moments out here that I never tire of.

Later in the evening - much later - as I shut down the cabin computer just before midnight, I got the urge to go outside and chop a bit of wood. It was only 30 degrees at the time, but they were calling for lows in the mid teens by daylight, so I figured I had better stock up. So there I was, out in the darkness in my underwear (no moon these days, so I had to use a flashlight to light my targets), swinging the maul and having a great time. Once I had split up enough sticks for the night and next day, I shut the light off to catch my breath. It was then that I noticed a second incredible scene for the day - the sky above was shining brightly, and the Big Dipper was standing nearly straight up, pointing proudly towards the north star. Even though I had to look through a thick forest of trees, the stars were so bright they stood out and provided quite a show. OK, it was a good day, I could go to bed now.

1/25/01 First light found me out at the wood pile once again, although this time I did have clothes on. The temp was 21 degrees, and some of the frozen wood split easily. Several blocks refused to give in to the maul though, and all I heard when the steel landed was a dull thud. The others revealed their insides with a sharp crack. Just about the time I hit the last log, the sun popped up over the eastern horizon without any fanfare.

One funny note about Aspen. He found this squeaky rubber toy out there in the woods somewhere. It looked like the head of a doll, but was obviously a dog squeaky toy. I swear I have never seen this toy before. And it looked like it had been out there in the dirt and leaves for a year or two. He absolutely LOVES this rubber thing though, wherever it came from.

On my way to Stuttgart later this morning to give a slide show at their Chamber of Commerce Banquet tonight. Good grief, a banquet? I am going to have to wear CLEAN shoes and a jacket, and try to behave like a civilized person! There is supposed to be sleet and snow coming down for my drive home in the wee hours of tomorrow morning.

1/26/01 The stroke of midnight found me speeding along towards home after the show in Stuttgart. LOTS of nice people down there, with some great food too. I know there are so many wonderful natural things in the prairie, but I have never taken the time to explore much - on my list of things to do this lifetime!

Just as I turned off of the interstate at Clarksville and headed up into the hills, it began to sleet - the weather service got it right this time. The next hour and a half were not a lot of fun - the road was frozen, with HEAVY sleet falling. The pucker factor was high and constant. I only saw one vehicle that last hour an a half - a pickup that was going even slower than I, and pulled over to let me pass. While the road was frozen, it was "rough" ice so was not really all that slick. In fact I tried many times to get the truck to slide but could not. But since it was still frozen road with more ice being added all the time, I took it very carefully and made it just fine. But all of those curves and every little downhill section took its toll on my nerves. And once I hit the dirt road I was able to drive just like normal.

I was one tired puppy when I finally arrived at the cabin and was able to breathe once again. But it was cold - in the 20's, with a powerful wind blasting. My wind gauge usually freezes up with sleet, but it was working just fine and showed the wind chill down in the double digits BELOW zero! I also got a sign of just how bad it was out when I got out of the car - it was covered with ice - every square inch of it!

It was 1:30 am but my automatic chore now was to build a fire, which I had blazing in about five minutes. No chopping wood in my underwear tonight though! I was wired after the long trip and stayed up for another hour tending the fire.

The sun rose from a dark cloud into bright blue and clear skies. I stumbled out and splashed into the hot tub and sipped some mocha. Poor Aspen - he had been cooped up into a tiny space in the car all day and half the night, only getting to get out and exercise a couple of short times. He was electric this morning and chased the wind all over the place.

Oh yea, the wind - it was still blowing hard, but at least the temp was a lot warmer - nearly 40 degrees at first light. The deck was still covered with ice though, and while I was standing on it drying off, the wind actually BLEW ME ACROSS THE DECK a few inches - a pretty weird feeling!

It is downright warm now in the middle of the morning, and Aspen is really bugging me to go on a hike. He is looking at me with this "OK, I sat around ALL day yesterday in the truck just for you, so today is for ME!" Good dog, I will obey.

1/29/01 After a weekend out of town, I spent half of this morning hiking in the rain (yea, rain!!!). I was taking a look at some property that a guy and his wife want me to build a hiking trail on. It is a nice little 20 acres near Eureka Springs - pretty steep terrain with bluffs, a creek, and a very nice waterfall. I forgot my hiking shoes and so did quite a bit of slipping and sliding on the steep and slopes.

It was late afternoon before I returned to the cabin. The weather station had recorded 1.5 inches of rain yesterday, and the Buffalo was running pretty good - and loud. A bit muddy too. The wind was blowing and the temp was in the 40's. Without even thinking much about it I sort of automatically headed right on back out the door once I unloaded the truck and went for a hike.

Whitaker Creek was running very good as well, and the road of the hidden rushing waters way down below and out of sight lured me on. It was sunny and clear but pretty late in the day so I did not give in entirely and hike down to the wilderness music - but rather hiked up into the drainage somewhat along the top of the big bluff. It was so great to see the forest all wet again - it has been a long time. Every little stream and depression had water in it. I bet the trees were crying out with joy inside!

But my mind was not drifting away like my body was, and before long I was up on the driveway worrying about how muddy it had become. There will be lots of traffic in and out of the place this week and next, and since my road was getting in such bad shape, I decided to go get the tractor and see if I could help some.

I really only wanted to dig a couple of drains to take off standing water. But by the time darkness arrived I had been on the tractor for a good long while and had made quite a mess of things. Rocks - that became my obsession this evening. My mud holes needed a great many rocks. And big ones at that. I managed to find several rocks that were so large I could not move them by hand, but it just so happened they fit into the big orange bucket just fine. Only problem was that once I got the big rocks out there in the middle of the mud holes, I needed to fill in around them with MORE rocks. Get the picture?

Well, I had to give up and go home with the job only half complete. Actually this is just one small bandaid, and I will have to do serious surgery on my road one of these days. But for now I would have to continue filling in with more rocks and that would have to do. First thing tomorrow morning I will be out there again hauling rocks and working in the mud, just like I used to do when I was seven. Only this time is really is different - back then my goal was to TRAP the water (by building mud and stone and stick dams). But now I want to GET RID of the water.

After a large plate of chili mac I attempted to deal with the mountain of e-mail that had been stacking up all weekend. I logged on several times Sunday and dealt with over 100 e-mail then, but they just keep coming - another 47 today. Many of them are junk, of course, but I still have to deal with them. Some others require only a short response, or none at all. But many of them require a detailed answer.

I am working down at the cabin computer tonight - doing laundry and cleaning up the cabin and unpacking too. The wind is absolutely HOWLING outside, and has been since dark. Gusts up in the mid 40mph range. And this wind has a real voice to it. You know how sometimes the wind will blow and blow and not make much of a sound, while other times - like tonight - it sings and cries and moans and talks a great deal. It is not just faster - there is something else that makes the sound - something in the air itself? Or perhaps we just hear better on some nights. Hum, I wonder if there really is some force out there huffing and puffing and blowing up all this wind? I have spent many countless night snug or shivering inside a sleeping bag listening to the music of the wilderness. Sometimes it keeps me awake until I can't keep my eyes open any more, other times it is the relaxation tool that send you off into a deep sleep. Tonight it is my companion while I work and will be the only stereo that I listen to. Wind chill dipping down towards 10 degrees right now.

The wind took on a high pitched shrill every now and then that sent a chill right on down my spine - I expected to see some sort of giant wild cat looking in the window and ready to break in and rip me to shreds.

Speaking of such things, I have never actually heard, or seen tracks or any other sign on a mountain lion in the Ozarks. They certainly are here - many creditable folks have confirmed sightings over the years. And the area round my cabin is a great place for them - secluded with lots of cover. Plenty of bob cats and that one lynx, but no cougars. I suspect that I will faint dead away if I ever came face to face with one in the wild - such beautiful animals - what incredible power!

I did brave the howling wind to take a quick dip in the hot tub. It was worth the trip because the sky was filled with zillions of bright stars. But the wind was so loud that I could no longer hear either river running.

1/30/00 And early start for me today, up on the tractor hauling more rocks to fill the mud holes. There was still a brisk wind blowing, but it was not too frigid out. Even though I had pulled clean clothes out of the dryer only a few minutes before, it didn't take long for me to get covered with mud splatters from head to toe.

A load of wood from Pine Creeks lumber yard over near Eureka arrived about mid morning. Enough lumber for us to build the new shop and carport. Terry Fredrick soon followed, and the next hour or two was spent measuring and trying to figure out exactly where to dig holes for the eight posts we needed for the shop.

Just about the time we got things squared away, Nancy Williams and her friend Connie appeared - and they were bearing not only LUNCH, but gifts as well. I fired up the grill and we all feasted on prime cuts of beef, AND a very special strawberry soup! I must convince Nancy to get me that recipe as it would make a terrific hot weather treat.

Another treat that Nancy brought was a set of Cloudland dishes - very nice indeed! I never imagined that there was so much available with the cloud motif. My friend Glenn and another deputy stopped by during lunch - he wanted to show me some of the prints that were printed by the photo department at the Harrison Wal Mart - very impressive digital prints!

Once our company departed Terry and I got back to the chore at hand, and got the first four posts set in place. It was then that we realized the lumber company failed to deliver two very important stacks of wood! Hum, guess they will have to drive all the way back out here again tomorrow.

After Terry left to head back to town I spent an hour or so putting away tools and covering up the wood in case of rain or snow. Had to make a short hike up to Aspen's meadow to collect a tarp, and while I was up there the western sky opened up and created a spectacular light show. With no camera in had all I could do was stand and stare.

Seems like my internet provider in Fayetteville was down most of today, plus the provider in Jasper that I use to access my e-mail was busy much to the day too. Good thing I was working outside all day and didn't really want to do any internet business! I guess we really are at the mercy of these electronic connections more and more all the time. Oh yea, and I cannot log onto the internet at all from my main office computer - I think the windows software that I loaded a while back has been messing everything up - I'll probably have to dump it before too long. I have been unable to get a special adapter between the GPS and the windows software to work properly.  If more people would just use a Mac for a day or two and see how much easier they are to own and operate we would not have this problem....

It is very dark outside now, and quiet - the wind has died down for the first time in a long while. There is lots of office work to do, so I am headed out the door up to the office to get started on the rest of my day's work.

1/31/01 Another early day for me, and 4am found me in the hot tub looking up at a blank sky with no stars in sight. It was a brisk hike in the darkness up to the office to continue with my paperwork. By first light I had put a good dent in it, and decided that I just had to get out and wander with the trees for a moment or two.

The wind was blowing some and the temp was 35, grey skies all around. The air was damp and the leaves underfoot did not crunch much. I struck off heading into the wind and just let me feet carry me where they might. No critters out this morning, other than Aspen romping all over the place as usual. The heavy air felt good in my lungs, and seemed to invigorate my aching body. I searched and searched but never found a worm to catch (you know, "the early bird......").

The woods are fully recovered now from all the ice of Dec. 13th and 25th. Although I did find a spot or two of crusty snow at the base of some trees. Beagle Point is back to normal brown and grey now, with only a narrow streak or two of white. I guess some of the more protected canyons might still have some ice, but the rain over the weekend took care of most of that. RAIN, we need more rain!!!

I am back at the office now after my short hike, organized and ready to get on with the day. Today will be mostly outside work again, as we continue building the shop. It is great to finally get an actual look at something that I have only had in my head these past several years.

I spent a couple of hours cutting up the big trees that we took down last week - a large pile of sawdust once the job was completed! This will form the base for our wood supply for next winter. I will have to split and stack it all later.

Terry arrived about mid-morning, and so did another batch of wood from the lumber yard. We got the base of the shop finished - putting on all of the floor joists - and got started on the plywood floor. It turned out that the plywood was so warped that we had to use some interesting techniques to get the tongue and groove ends slid together and nailed down.

During the middle of the day I made a very unfortunate step off of the shop floor and a couple of feet down onto the ground. I came down on a stob and my ankle popped out as I hit the deck and then the ground quite hard. This is the worst fall that I have taken since I was in high school, and the pain shot through me quickly. I do have weak ankles, and will often pop or roll my ankle. I have always been able to simply walk it out until the pain is gone and avoid any swelling. So I immediately took off up the lane. But today each step was very painful, and got worse with each step. It would not walk out, so I returned to the cabin and got out the ice.

I spent the rest of the day with a club foot all wrapped up with a large ice ball - looked kind of funny. I could not move my foot in any direction, and each step was a new venture in pain. But I had to keep working, and we did get a lot more work done. It was after dark before we finally called it quits for the day. The shop was well on its way!

February 2001 Journal